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RUMI

“Come on, lovebug,” I say to Evee as I get her dressed. She’s moving and grooving, having taken her first steps only a few weeks after we moved in with Jack last year. Now at two, we can’t let her out of our sight for more than a second before she’s wreaking havoc somewhere. “We can’t be late.”

“Are my girls almost ready?” I hear as Jack peeks in through Evee’s bedroom door.

It’s been a year since the fire and a little less than that since Evee and I officially moved in with Jack.

And it’s flown by.

Between Trevor’s trial, and publishing my children’s book, it feels like so much time has passed. Yet, at the same time, it feels like the year has passed in a blink of an eye.

“Da-da,” Evee squeals as Jack walks in and begins putting Evee’s shoes on as I finish her hair. She’s dressed in a light pink dress that perfectly matches the tie Jack has on.

“Ava just texted asking where we are,” Jack says, as I fasten the bow to the bun on Evee’s head. “We have five minutes to get to Hey Honey’s before we’re considered late.”

“It’s my party,” I argue. “I can be late if I want to.”

With the release of my second children’s book, Feeling Every Color , and my first one making USA TODAY’s Best-selling Booklist, Ava wanted to throw the release party she never got to throw last year because of everything that happened.

“You know this one is a long time coming,” Jack says, picking up Evee and heading out the bedroom door before I can respond. He whispers something to her, but I can’t make out what it is.

“Where’s the fire?” I ask him, following him out of the bedroom. “Since when are you in such a rush to be on time?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, turning to give me a smile before pressing a kiss to my lips. “Let’s go, pretty girl.”

“Okay, but—” I stop, mid-step, seeing the living room lit only by candles in the shape of a heart, Jack standing in the center holding Evee in one arm.

“Come here, baby,” he says, and I will my feet to move, stepping into the large heart, my own heart so incredibly full it feels like it could burst.

“A year and a half ago, I couldn’t even look at a burning candle without feeling like I was suffocating.

For so long, since losing Bennett, I constantly felt like I was walking through smoke, inhaling it with every breath—until I found you.

You are my breath of fresh air, my peace, my solace, my everything. ”

He hands Evee to me, and I can practically feel the way she’s buzzing with excitement. Her curious eyes and rosy cheeks are on full display as she looks between her dad and me. I notice she has something in her hand, but I don’t have time to register it because Jack gets down on one knee.

“Rumi, Evee,” he says, looking to each of us as he says our names.

“You two are my world, my universe, and I wake up every day with purpose because of the both of you. You two make me want to be the man I know I’m capable of being—the man my best friend knew I was capable of being—and I truly believe he put the two of you in my path, helping me find two more of my soulmates. ”

I feel tears well in my eyes as Jack reaches a hand towards Evee, and she places whatever she’s holding in his palm. That’s when I notice it’s a little white velvet box.

Holding it up to us, Jack opens the lid, revealing a gold ring with a solitaire pear-shaped prasiolite stone, the color perfectly matching his jade green eyes.

My tears fall as I nod my head before he can even ask the question, knowing I don't want another minute to pass with his arms not around me, his lips not on mine, his ring not on my finger.

But before he asks me anything, he turns to Evee, looking at her softly, with so much love in his eyes. “Can I marry Mommy?” he asks her, and she immediately nods her head with a huge smile on her face, one with almost all her teeth.

Jack turns to look up at me, and I let the tears of happiness fall.

“Rumi baby, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” I whisper, and Jack slides the ring on my finger, standing up and kissing me hard as he holds us both closely. “Yes,” I say again and again against his lips.

Pressing my forehead to his, I look into those eyes.

The ones that I fell in love with.

The ones I named my daughter after.

The ones that saved me.